The increasing popularity of presenting and sharing data files, in particular linear data streams including audio and video files, has created a need to be able to manipulate these files readily. Manipulating may include selecting a portion for playback, extracting a desired selection of the total file, and/or altering attributes inherent in a file. For example, attributes for an image or video file include, but are not limited to, color, chrominance, hue, tint, file compression, sampling rate, resolution, color space, filters, and the like. Attributes for an audio file include, but are not limited to, bass, treble, filters, reverb, echo, file compression, sampling rate, and the like. Such manipulations can be cumbersome, particularly on small form factor devices such as laptops, mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable media players, and the like.